The Biggest Loser
The Biggest Loser is a reality TV series that is curently in its 18th production season. The show features anywhere from 15 to 20+ contestents depending on the season. The contestants range in age from early 20's to mid 50's and early 60's. All of the contestents are struggling with their weight and are considered obese at the show's beginning. They come to compete on The Biggest Loser to lose their unhealthy excess weight and to learn changes in their eating and exsercising habits in order to improve their lifestyles. Trainers, dietitions, and doctors help them to make these changes as the series progresses. The contestents play as "couples" (family members or friends play as a single unit against other couples,) individuals (usually when the number of remaining contestensts is relitively few,) or as teams of strangers divided by color (i.e the Black Team and the BlueTeam.) Each team has one trainer as a leader, while idividuals and couples usually work with all the trainers. The show usually consists of the contestants working out with their trainers and teams, a visit to the doctor or dietition for at least one contestent, a meeting with a trainer for at least one contestent, and the "weekly challenge." A complicated game is devised for the contestents to play. The winning player(s) or teams recieve special advantages such as immunity from elimination, a one pound advantage allowing one pound to be added to however much weight that contestent loses during the week, the ability to give another contestent or team a one or two pound disadvantage, the ability to cast two votes at the weekly elimination, or phone calls/letters from their families. The "reality TV" element comes into play at the end of each week. Contestents participarte in a weigh in to track their progress and monitor just how much weight they have lost. The weigh in is different depending on the structure of the alliences between players. When a couple weighs in against the other couples, their total weight loss is combined. If they lose enough weight, both members are safe from elimination. The same basic principle goes for weeks in which the players form teams. When the game is played as individuals, only that individual's weight loss counts for them. The player(s) who have the lowest percentage of weight loss are subject to elimination. Usually, each player has a chance to make their case as to why they should be allowed to stay before the other contestents. Following this, the players not at risk for elimination cast votes as to who they believe should continue on the show. Whichever player recieves the majority of elimination votes must leave the ranch. Sometimes, there are challenges in which eliminated players can compete to earn a spot back on the ranch. During some weeks, there is no vote to see who is eliminated, the player with the lowest percentage of weight loss is automatically eliminated. In Season 15, a new element was introduced called "The Trainer Save." Each trainer has the power to save one of their team members from elimination whenever they so choose. In addition, some seasons have themes such as "No Excuses," "Pay It Forward," "Couples," "Second Chances," and "Families." The attitude of the season is usually based on the theme. For example, during "Second Chances" seasons, a special emphasis is put on giving the players a "second chance at life." Recently, the show has added "child ambassadors" to play alongside regular contestents. These players are between 13 and 18 years of age, and cannot be eliminated. They are meant to serve as inspiration to other children and to help combat childhood obesity. The Biggest Loser began production in the U.S, and has become globallly popular since then.There are different Several countries have created their own adaptations to the show, but the contestants always have the same goal: to lose the highest percentage of weight and become the Biggest Loser. *The Bigest Loser (U.S. TV series) *The Biggest Loser (season 1) – 19 October 2004 – 14 December 2004 (12 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 2) – aired 13 September 2005 – 29 November 2005 (13 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 3) – aired 20 September 2006 – 13 December 2006 (13 episodes)3 *The Biggest Loser (season 4) – aired 11 September 2007 – 18 December 2007 (15 episodes)4 *The Biggest Loser (season 5): Couples – aired 1 January 2008 – 15 April 2008 (16 episodes)5 *The Biggest Loser (season 6): Families – aired 16 September 2008 – 16 December 2008 (13 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 7): Couples 2 – aired 6 January 2009 – 12 May 2009 (20 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 8): Second Chances – aired 15 September 2009 – 8 December 2009 (13 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 9): Couples 3 – aired 5 January 2010 - 25 May 2010 (19 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 10): Pay It Forward – aired 21 September 2010 - 14 December 2010 (13 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 11): Couples 4 – aired 4 January 2011 - 24 May 2010 (21 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 12): Battle of the Ages – aired 20 September 2011 - 13 December 2010 (13 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 13): No Excuses – aired 3 January 2012 - 1 May 2012 (18 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 14): Challenge America – aired 6 January 2013 - 18 March 2013 (12 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 15): Second Chances 2 – aired 15 October 2013 – 4 February 2014 (15 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 16): Glory Days – aired 11 September 2014 – 29 January 2015 (18 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 17): Temptation Nation – aired 4 January 2016 – 22 February 2016 (8 episodes) *The Biggest Loser (season 18): Lose It Again – premieres January 28, 2020. Hosts (U.S.A) *Caroline Rhea Seasons 1-3 (2004–2006) *Alison Sweeney Seasons 4-16 (2007–2016) *Bob Harper Seasons 17-present (2016-present) Trainers (U.S.A) *Jillian Michaels (2004–2005, 2007-2011) (Jillan was absent in 2006-2007 as a trainer because the prroducers of The Biggest Loser wanted to act on her popularity with audiences by creating a spin-off series for her titled "Losing It With Jillian." Initially, the show did not rate well and was cancelled soon after its creation, leaving Jillian free to return to her training position on The Biggest Loser for the next season.) *Bob Harper (2004–present) *Kim Lyons (2006-2007) *Brett Hoebel (2011-2012) *Cara Castronuova (2011-2012) *Delvon Quince (2010-2016) *Jennifer Widerstrom (2013-2016) United Kingdom *The Biggest Loser (UK TV series) *The Biggest Loser UK (series 1) – aired in 2005 *The Biggest Loser UK (series 2) – aired in 2006 *The Biggest Loser UK (series 3) – aired in 2009 *The Biggest Loser UK (series 4) – Aired in 2010 Hosts (U.K.) *Vicki Butler-Henderson (2005–2006) *Kate Garraway (2009- present) Trainers (U.K.) *Angie Dowds (2005–2006,2009) *Mark Bailey (2005–2006,2009) *Richard Callender (2009) Australia *The Biggest Loser (Australian TV series) *The Biggest Loser Australia (season 1) – aired in 2006 (53 Episodes) *The Biggest Loser Australia (season 2) – aired in 2007 (58 Episodes) *The Biggest Loser Australia (season 3) – aired in 2008 (74 Episodes) *The Biggest Loser Australia: Couples – aired in 2009 (74 Episodes) *The Biggest Loser Australia: Couples 2 – aired in 2010 (66 Episodes) *The Biggest Loser Australia: Families - Aired in 2011 Hosts (Australia) *Ajay Rochester (2006–2009) *Hayley Lewis (2010–present) Present Trainers (Australia) *Michelle Bridges (2007–present) *Shannan Ponton (2007–present) *Steve Willis (Commando) (2007–present) *Emma Hutton (Emazon) (2009–present) Past Trainers *Jillian Michaels (2006–2007) *Bob Harper (2006–2007) Category:Shows